A Gathering of Heroes 1
by Cristov
Summary: When their associated foes gather in a conference, can anything but evil be born?
1. Prologue

A group of beings, each evil in their own right, huddled around a room about hundred and fifty feet across. The room, while impressive in its own right, was merely a small pocket dimension created by the one who called this meeting together.

Sitting in a black metal throne designed to imitate bones, one figure tapped a blue taloned finger against his bone white chin.

He glanced at the creature floating at his elbow. While the creature bore the form of a woman, and a sexy woman at that with all the correct anatomical features, He loathed to call it a woman. "Well?" His high pitched voice grated on most people's ears, a fact he enjoyed.

"So far everything is as it appears, My Lord." The creature hissed.

"For your sake, Shadow Weaver, it had better remain that way." The supreme commander of the Horde outpost on Etheria known as Hordak looked to his left and saw a face that he thought he'd never see again. And he would've been the happier for it.

The face turned and looked at him and he barely suppressed the urge to convert his bionic arm into a laser blaster and replace the fiends head with a laser bolt.

"Comfortable, Hordak?" asked the man with a skull for a head.

"Not that _you_ would care, Skeletor," Hordak replied. "But, yes. Actually, I am."

"Good." Skeletor leaned forward and placed his elbows on his knees. "Then maybe you'd care to tell us why we're here?"

"And what makes you think that I was the one who orchestrated this gathering?"

"Because we both have the power, but _I_ do not have the motive."

"Nor do I."

A third, more menacing figure appeared in a flash of red light.

"Who dares summon Mon*Star, the Planet Master?" The figure stood an impressive seven or eight feet tall, was at least four feet across the shoulders and his head was the most memorable. It looked like it had been chiseled from a solid piece of ruby, and had a series of spikes protruding from it.

"Welcome, friend." Skeletor said leaning back in his chair. "Allow me to reassure you that it was not us that did this."

A red metal throne materialized behind the newcomer and he sat with a thump. "Whoever it is had better make it quick, I wait for no one." His voice sounded like he had a mouthful of gravel and broken stones.

"That's what we said when we first arrived." Hordak muttered. "And we've been waiting for hours."

A fourth voice was heard throughout the room. "Calm yourselves, my friends." A puff of black smoke coalesced in the center of the room. When it disappeared, a figure wearing a red hooded robe was revealed.

"I am the one who called this meeting," the figure took a ragged breath. "So that we might discuss the removal of the thorns in our respective sides."

"What makes you think that Skeletor, need assistance from the likes of you," Skeletor challenged.

"Observe." The figure lifted a trembling arm and a globe appeared in front of Skeletor.

Hordak looked at Shadow Weaver. "Are those rags hanging from his arm?" He asked.

She mutely nodded, entranced by the power of the being before her.

In the globe, all could see the visage of Skeletor's nemesis, He-Man. It displayed scenes from battles that Skeletor, to his thinking, should have won, but was thwarted at every turn.

"This is why you need my assistance." The figure grumbled. "And you, Hordak, He-Man's sister, She-Ra." The scenes in the globe changed to show Etheria and the blonde Princess of Power thwarting Hordak's every scheme, no matter how cleverly they were conceived.

"Thirdly, Mon*Star and his foes, the SilverHawks." The globe changed again, showing deep space and flying people shod in metal suits.

"What about you?" Hordak asked. "Who are your 'thorns', as you call them?"

"My problems are the TunderCats." The figure opened his robe slightly and allowed all present to see his rag clad body. "For I am Mumm-Ra, the Ever Living." The globe shifted yet a fourth time and showed everyone present the dreaded ThunderCats that had proven more than once to be his equal.

"Well, Mumm-Ra, how do you propose to fix these," Hordak paused searching for the right word, "issues of ours?"

"I propose that we send them away. To the far distant past, where they cannot obstruct our future objectives."

Skeletor laughed. "And how do you propose to get them to cooperate?" He chuckled. "Would you like us to ask them for you?"

Mumm-Ra turned a very serious gaze upon the cackling skull. "Actually, yes, in a matter of speaking." He lifted his hand again and in the hand of each of his audience a device appeared. "I will give each of you a set of criteria, when that criteria is met, you press this button. I will take care of the rest."

"And what do you get out of this little alliance?" Mon*Star asked.

"Piece of mind, knowing that evil will flourish."

"Is that all?" Hordak asked.

"Actually, no." Mumm-Ra chuckled. "In each of your realms there is a minor artifact. It once belonged to me and I would like it returned."

"What does this 'artifact' do?" Skeletor asked.

"Nothing. It's merely a memento of my younger days."

"We get you these pieces of artifact; you get rid of our combined enemies?" Mon*Star asked.

"Correct, Planet Master."

The ruby chiseled face turned to look at Hordak and Skeletor. "I think we'd be fools not to accept such an alliance." He threw his head back and laughed the most evil laugh that he could muster. By itself it was chilling, but when three others joined in, it truly became something to chill men's bones.


	2. Eternia

Eternia. A world of natural wonders and a rugged people. A world the Skeletor longed to wrap his evil fingers around and squeeze. His only obstacle was He-Man.

Upon returning to Snake Mountain from his rendezvous with his new partners, Skeletor had immediately sent out his minions to scour the wastes for the piece of artifact. Surprisingly, at least to him, it was Beastman who discovered the piece. Unfortunately, it took them months to locate it, but Skeletor soon had a plan with which to trap He-Man and his friends.

"Trap Jaw!" Skeletor yelled. Within seconds, the cyborg was kneeling before him.

"Yes, Master?"

Skeletor tossed the artifact piece to his mechanized minion. "Take this into the realm of the Kulatuks." Skeletor chuckled. "And leave it at the sight of your defeat."

Trap Jaw shuddered when he heard the name Kulatuks, but he stood turned to leave the throne room.

"Oh, and Trap Jaw?" Skeletor called out. "On your way, you have my permission to wreak as much havoc as you want…as long as you don't forget your mission."

Trap Jaw's eyes lit up. He loved nothing more than to destroy and he knew there was plenty of opportunity on the way to the Kulatuks. He ran out of the room, for once eager to begin.

An hour later, in the throne room of King Randor and Queen Marlena, a peasant was kneeling before the royal couple.

"I beg your Majesties for assistance." The peasant finished his plea.

"Of course, we will assist." Marlena said, "First, we'll let you get rested, fed and cleaned up."

"And while you're being taken care of," Randor said, "Man-at-Arms and Teela will go and deal with that renegade robot wannabe."

In the shadows, behind the throne, a diminutive figure clothed only in a red cloak, purple scarf and an oversized red hat fluttered fretfully.

"Oh, my," he thought, "I've got to tell Prince Adam." He ducked out of the throne room using a secret passage that only he, and the royal couple, knew about.

Several minutes later, Adam was found in the kitchen.

"Adam, Adam," the small, child-like figure had a voice to match. "Come quick, there's trouble."

Adam looked up from where he was slicing meat from last night's banquet for a sandwich.

"Slow down, Orko," the Prince of Eternia chuckled. "Slow down and tell me what's going on."

"It's Trap Jaw." Orko took a deep breath and slumped down onto the countertop. "He's making another run at Eternium."

On the floor next to Adam's feet, Cringer, Adam's best friend, a talking tiger colored green with orange stripes, was doing what he does best. Cringing.

"B-but Adam, we haven't had lunch yet." His eyes lingered on the previous night's leftovers.

"I know, Cringer, but that will have to wait." He ran out of the kitchen to search for Man-at-Arms and his daughter Teela.

He caught up to them in the Palace's hanger, preparing and Wind Raider for a trip.

"Guys," Adam said as he jogged up to them, Cringer in tow.

Man-at-Arms held up his hand, "Yes, Adam we know." He glanced at Teela. "Trap Jaw's on the loose." He handed Teela a bundle. "I hope we can handle it." He sighed. "Seeing as how we don't have He-Man." He shot Adam a covert wink.

"I'll send word to him right away." Adam said. He waved to his friends as they took off.

After they were out of sight, Adam looked around the hanger. Not seeing anyone, who didn't already know his secret, he pulled the Sword of Power from its hidden scabbard across his back and held it up.

"By the Power of Greyskull." He said. Instantly he was covered in a glowing white light. Gone was his usual attire of brown boots, lavender tights, white undershirt and pink tunic. He was now clad in brown hide boots, furry briefs and his Power Harness (made up of gray straps connected over his heart by a red cross).

Keeping his right hand gripped on the hilt of the sword, he gripped the tip in his left hand and said, "I have the power!"

He then turned the sword and aimed it at Cringer. A beam of white light shot out and surrounded the cowardly cat. With a flash, Cringer was transformed into Battle Cat, his red armor barely masking his ferocity.

"C'mon, He-Man, let's go. We can't let Teela and Man-at-Arms have all the fun." Cringer's normally timid and borderline whiney voice was also transformed into the deep guttural growl of a seasoned fighter.

"Calm down, Battle Cat," He-Man chuckled. "Let's see what's going on before we jump into a fight." Battle Cat's voice wasn't the only one that was transformed; Prince Adam's high pitched voice was replaced by a deep baritone. He climbed onto Battle Cat's back and they bound out of the hanger.

Half an hour later, they came across a village that was lying in ruins, smoke billowing from several structures. As they headed through the town, a young woman came running up to them.

"He-Man, He-Man, please you have to help."

He-Man slid off of Battle Cat's back. "OF course," he said. "What can I do?"

She began to tug on his arm while pointing at a burning building.

"It's my little brother," she wailed. "He's trapped inside."

Without further word, He-Man dove into the burning building. The young woman stood by Battle Cat.

"Don't worry," Battle Cat growled softly. "He-Man'll get him out."

The roof of the building, engulfed with flames, collapsed. The woman shrieked.

A great ball of fire erupted through the space that the roof had occupied and Battle Cat saw a figure summersault through the air and land on the ground in front of them. The young woman, at first not recognizing the figure, rushed up.

He-Man stood to reveal a young boy of about ten years old.

"Oh, Danthor," the woman said, hugging the boy close. "Thank you, He-Man." She said through her tears.

"Not a problem." He-Man said climbing back onto Battle Cat's back. "The man who did this," he waved his arm to indicate all the destruction, "which way did he go?"

"That way," the woman said pointing down the street.

"Thank you." He-Man said aiming Battle Cat in the direction she indicated. "And don't worry; I'll have King Randor send in the Royal Engineers. We'll have this place back to normal before you realize it."

As they ran down the street, the woman and her little brother waved in farewell.

A few miles down the road, He-Man and Battle Cat came upon the Wind Raider in a clearing to the side of the road.

"Ho, He-Man." Man-at-Arms called from where he stood in the center of the road.

"Man-at-Arms," He-Man greeted as he dismounted. "Where's Teela?"

"Scouting ahead. Thought I'd give her something to do while we talked."

"What have you found out?"

"Trap Jaw appears to have made it into the underground realm of the Kulatuks." He replied.

"I lost him after a few hundred feet," Teela said stepping from around a tree. She looked at Man-at-Arms. "Sorry, Dad."

"Don't worry about it," Man-at Arms smiled at his adopted daughter. "You're an even better tracker than me, so I would have lost him sooner than that."

"Well," He-Man said. "No time like the present to go after him." He checked to make sure his sword was free and clear for easy access. "We know where he's headed, maybe we can head him off."

He-Man, with Battle Cat, Man-at-Arms and Teela following, headed into the cavern a mile up the road from where the Wind Raider was parked.

Thanks to He-Man's miraculous memory, they made excellent time and soon found themselves in the midst of the Eternium mine.

"There's one way in and out," He-Man said. "You stay put and make sure he doesn't get in here. I'll go find him."

"You won't have to look very hard, He-Man." Trap Jaw's mechanical voice echoed from above. He-Man turned and looked up. He saw Trap Jaw standing on a ledge, his right arm had converted into a laser rifle and it was aimed right at them.

"Haven't you learned your lesson, Trap Jaw?" He-Man asked, moving so that Teela and Man-at-Arms were behind him.

"Yes, I have." Trap Jaw tossed a small object down at them.

Thinking quickly, He-Man leapt up, caught the object and landed in a crouch, anticipating an explosion. When one didn't come, he stood and looked at the object.

It appeared to be made of some black stone that he'd never seen before and carved with glyphs and runes that he didn't recognize. Maybe the Sorceress could…

A bright red light interrupted his thinking, then the world went dark.


End file.
